


How do you know?

by Craftybadger1234



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Declarations Of Love, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 22:30:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11472984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Craftybadger1234/pseuds/Craftybadger1234
Summary: This is a fluffy bit of nonsense where Harry finds out Draco is going to propose and he freaks out. He visits his friends and they talk about love.Rated T for language because I love to say f*ck.





	How do you know?

Harry hummed as he left the bathroom to get dressed. Pants. Do di do… Pants on. Socks. Boo boo pi doo. Wait, no socks in the drawer. How could there be no socks in the drawer? Didn’t he just do the laundry? He tried summoning a pair but nothing happened. Weird. 

He could wear a pair of Draco’s socks. That would be okay, right?

He tiptoed to Draco’s dresser, hesitant, as if Draco could hear him all the way from the convention in France. He slid the drawer open and took out a pair of plain black socks. Below them was a box.

A red box.

A red _velvet_ box.

Oh fuck. No. That couldn’t be what it looked like. Harry sat down on the bed, staring at the box. Slowly, he opened the lid. Yup. It was exactly what it looked like. 

Two matching platinum rings.

Harry dropped the box on the bed and backed away. 

“Oh fuck. Oh fuck fuck fuck. It’s fine. It’s going to be fine. I’ll just put it back and none-the-wiser.” His hand trembled as he picked up the box again.

Another peek wouldn’t hurt at this point, right? He exhaled heavily. Draco wanted to marry him. _Marry_ him. _Draco_ wanted to marry _him_. 

Harry was having trouble breathing. It was amazing. Wonderful. Terrifying. Was he ready for this?

Ron. Hermione. He had to go talk it over with them. They would explain it to him and it would be fine. 

With shaky hands he threw on jeans, t-shirt, and sandals (with _no_ socks) and apparated to their house. 

He banged on the front door. “Ron! Hermione! Open up!”

“Harry! What is it? Is someone dead? Hospital?”

“What? No.” Harry pushed past Ron to the kitchen where Hermione sat feeding Rose. “It's this. I need help with this.” He shoved the red box at Hermione. 

“Aww Harry! You're going to propose to Draco?”

“No! I found it. In his sock drawer. He's going to - to - “ He gestured wildly at the box. Harry paced, having trouble catching his breath again. 

“Oh, so you ruined the surprise. That's too bad, I bet he had something romantic planned.”

“Will you please take this seriously?”

“What's to take seriously?” Ron asked, returning to his breakfast. “Draco will propose in some ridiculous over-the-top way, you'll say yes, there will be a large party, and then life will go on. You're already living together so what's the big deal?”

“It’s a big deal because he wants to marry me! I’m not ready for this. Am I? Am I ready? How do I know if I’m ready? What if I don’t love him enough?”

“You love him enough,” Ron said, rolling his eyes, “otherwise he wouldn’t stay. Draco thrives on attention.”

Hermione threw her napkin at Ron. “Surely he has some inkling of your feelings if he’s bought rings. Haven’t you talked about the future at all?”

“Well, yeah but I didn’t think he meant the immediate future. Like now. This is big. Real. How did you know you were ready to get married?” 

Hermione shrugged and smiled fondly at Ron. “He made me laugh. At him, at myself. He kept me from taking myself too seriously.” She reached across the table for his hand and gave it a squeeze. She banished Rose’s plate to the kitchen before it could be tossed to the ground. “He provided balance. And I thought he’d be a good and caring father. Life would be fun with him. I needed fun.”

Harry thought of Draco singing along with the radio, whether he knew the words or not. He still slicked his hair into tall spikes in the bath. He liked to bake with Harry on the weekends, especially if it involved icing or chocolate. They frequently lay together in the back garden chaise, watching the stars, and talking about nothing.

“My sweet wife! I would be lost without you!” Ron banished his plate to the sink and kissed the top of Hermione’s head as he stood. “Probably literally. I need managing and Hermione was the best at it. She’s intelligent and beautiful. She’s a good mum.” He took Rose from her high chair to the sink for washing up. “Being married is even more fun than I thought it would be.”

Draco loved to manage Harry. And he did love being managed. Those little things Draco did for him, beginning with waking him for work and ending with sweet kisses goodnight - they made Harry feel special. It was the sort of thing families, real families, shared. 

Harry smiled fondly at his best friends. “You two are so sugary sweet, you hardly seem real right now.”

“You’ll get there,” Ron smiled. “You become a lot sappier once the ring is actually on your finger. You’ll see, the panic will die down.”

Harry was already feeling better. Of course he loved Draco. And he couldn't let him slip through his fingers. 

Hermione smiled encouragingly, “Stay for breakfast. Ginny will be here soon. We’re off for her final dress fitting before the wedding. You can talk to her about it.”

“That’s a great idea,” Ron agreed. “You two are just alike and she knows what it’s like to snag an ice prince.”

“I’m going to tell Draco you called him a prince.”

“He already knows.”

\---------

Ginny arrived less than an hour later while Ron and Hermione went up to get ready for the day.

“Harry! What a surprise! You playing with Rose and Ron today while Hermione and I finish wedding stuff?” 

“Yeah. Well, no, I had a bit of a panic,” he blushed. “Draco… is going to propose to me. I found the rings.” 

“What? That's fantastic!” She punched him on the arm. “You arse! You ruined the surprise! It was probably going to be fantastic too.” 

“I know. It was an accident.” He frowned at his feet. “I'm not sure I'm ready for this.”

“What? Why not? You two are great together!” Ginny pushed him back into the kitchen chair then prepared them both a cup of tea.

“I know. I'm just nervous. Everyone gets nervous, right?”

“Maybe. What's there to be nervous about?” 

“I'm just… I've not had really great examples of love you know? What if I'm pants at it all? What if he decides I'm not worth the trouble?” Harry picked at a piece of toast, crumbling it to bits.

“You have a heart the size of the ocean. You'll be fine.” Ginny sat down with a bowl of fruit and their tea cups.

“How did you know? That Blaise was the one?”

“Well, when he proposed - “

“Nope, don't tell that story again. I'm still having nightmares of his naked arse from the first telling.”

“When he proposed,” she yelled over him, “I could see it - the life we could build. And I wanted it more than anything else. He feels like a part of me I never knew I was missing.” She smiled and sipped at her tea.

“And?” he prompted.

“And he's wild in bed.”

“There it is.” He laughed with her.

She threw a blueberry at him. “It’s not the only reason I'm marrying him.”

“Yeah no I heard the other stuff - great life, missing piece.” 

She cocked her head, thoughtful. “I like the side he shares with me and no one else. He’s cold on the outside but he’s so warm on the inside. And I can be vulnerable with him because he keeps me safe.”

No one knew that Harry still had nightmares. That occasionally he had panic attacks. 

Only Draco. 

It was Draco that held him tight while his heart raced. Instructed him to breath when his throat closed up. Lit up the room when the darkness wanted to consume him. Sometimes Draco soothed him in other ways, with hot kisses, gentle hands on his skin, pleasure that made his toes curl. 

“I'm glad you found each other,” he said, squeezing her hand.

“Me too. We have Neville and Pansy to thank. Oh! You should go talk to them. Pansy could give you insight into Draco. And while you’re there, you can check on the flowers for me.”

“I suppose so.” He bit his lip. “Pansy scares me.”

“She scares everyone. Except Neville. Funny, that.”

\------- 

Harry approached the house from the backyard, knowing Neville did most of his greenhouse work in the morning. He knocked on the glass.

“Harry! What a surprise! Come in, come in!”

“Ginny sent me to check on the wedding flowers. She and Hermione are off for their final fitting today.”

“They’re great - look - “ Neville took him to the back of the spacious greenhouse to a large section of tiny white flowers. “They’ll be ready to pick in a few days and we’ll keep them under stasis until the wedding.” 

“That’s great. And, er, while I’m here… I actually wanted to see Pansy. Is she around?”

“She took the baby to her mother’s. Should be back soon. You’ll wait?”

“Yeah that'd be great.” Harry sat on a bench to watch Neville potter around the flowers.

“What kind of help did you need? You don't usually seek out Pansy like this.”

“It’s about Draco. He's fine. He's just - I found rings. He's going to propose.”

“So he did buy them after all? I heard passing mention.”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“It's not my secret to tell! But now you've gone and ruined the surprise. From what I could glean, the proposal was going to be amazing. But I'm sure Plan B is great too.”

Harry tugged his hair. “It would be really great if everyone could stop blaming me for ruining the proposal of the century. A sock drawer is a terrible hiding place.”

“Especially if you live with a nosy berk.” Neville laughed at Harry’s glare. “You're nervous about it?”

“How'd you guess?” Harry asked, poking at the dirt in a pot with a stick.

Neville pulled the stick away. “I can't imagine why you'd want to talk to Pansy otherwise. You are terrified of her.”

“I am not! Well only a little. I don't know how you two ended up together.”

“Fate. Luck. Good timing. You remember. Here, fill these little pots while you’re here.”

Harry dug in a bag of potting soil, and began filling the clay pots. “I remember she almost severed my boy parts over some rare angelica sprouts.”

“Eh, it turned out all right in the end.” Neville dropped squishy pods in the pots Harry filled and set them aside.

“How did you know? That you wanted to marry her?”

“She told me to,” Neville said with a shrug.

“I'm serious!”

“So am I! She said none of the post war fangirls would ever treat me so well. Would ever appreciate the man behind the sword. And I believed her.”

“Bossy little thing, isn't she?”

“She knows what she wants. And I like it.” He paused, considering. “You know how my gran was growing up. Pansy is her opposite. She makes me feel like I could do anything. And that staying in the greenhouse is just as good as conquering the world.”

Warm thoughts flooded Harry, of whispered conversations in the dark of night. Trading stories, secrets, dreams. Of how Draco encouraged him to be happy, regardless of outside expectations. And all those little moments of simple praise when Harry needed it most.

They heard the door open on the far side of the greenhouse.

“Nev? Are you in here? Mother said she'd watch Sprout for the morning, so I'm going to go wash up and then you're going to fu- Harry! What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you, actually.”

“Oh? What for?”

He twisted the hem of his shirt in his hands. “I needed to ask about Draco - “

“You found the rings?”

“Yes,” he blushed.

“I knew this would happen. Damn, the proposal was going to be epic.”

“So I've heard.”

“So what's your question?”

At his pause, Neville interjected, “He's nervous.”

“I've nearly hexed your naughty bits off, I think we've moved past nervous now.”

“No he's nervous about Draco. About what to say.”

“I'm not sure… that I'm right for him. That I can make it work. How do I know it's right?”

Pansy sat on the stool with a sigh. “You ever go out, and everyone sees you together and they're all jealous because they want him but you're the one that gets to take him home and he's fucking you against the wall and you just think, ‘I'm the luckiest person alive because he’s mine.’”

Harry was flooded with tantalizing images of Draco’s body entwined with his.

Neville flushed a deep crimson as he fiddled with the little white flowers again. “Pansy! You’re embarrassing me.”

She blew him a kiss. “You love it.” 

She smiled at Harry and continued, “But then there are those other nights when he stumbles in from work, dirty and tired, and he can barely make it to bed. He's lying there drooling on your pillow like a lump and you stroke his hair and think, ‘I'm the luckiest person alive because he’s mine.’”

Now Harry saw softer images of Draco in his pyjamas, reading the paper. Drinking tea. Writing letters. Laughing with Harry.

“If you can take the lows with the highs - fun sexy times along with boring everyday times - then keep him. You'll work out the rest as you go.” She pat his hand and headed for the door. “I'm going inside. Get rid of him, babe, while I freshen up. And then we'll find a good wall.”

The door slammed behind her. Neville spluttered, red-faced, “We - she… sometimes it's, just - when.”

“No worries, mate, I'm with her,” Harry grinned. “Wall sex while you still can. Enjoy your morning without the baby!”

Harry wasted no time apparating away.

\--------

Three days later found Harry anxiously waiting for Draco to return home. He had dinner laid out, the flat was clean, and they had nowhere to be in the morning. His heart raced at the sound of the floo.

Before he could even say hello, his arms were full of warm, soft Draco. Hands ran over his body, a hot mouth on his. Draco moaned and pulled him to the floor.

“I missed you so much. You have no idea.” More kisses, and clothes started to come off. “Next time you should come with me.”

“Wait! Wait. I need to tell you something.” 

“It’s been five days. Surely it can wait.” He yanked Harry’s shirt off and sucked around his collarbone.

“Draco! Stop! I found the rings.”

“Good. I assume you’re over your panic by now?” He started on the buttons of Harry’s jeans.

“What? How did you - ?” Harry wriggled out from under Draco. Standing, he took in the sight of his boyfriend, kneeling on the floor half dressed, hair already mussed. Holy fuck, but he was beautiful.

“I knew you’d spook so I let you find them. You could work it all out before I proposed. All your socks are in my bag.” Draco crawled towards him on his knees, reaching for his flies again.

“You did that on purpose? That’s diabolical.” He moaned as Draco pressed kisses to his belly.

“I know. I’m terribly clever.” He peeled off Harry’s jeans, and pulled him to the floor again. “So can we get back to it?”

“I think I’m mad at you.”

“Yes I can _feel_ how angry you are.” He ground his hips into Harry. “Let’s burn off that excess energy.”

“Don’t you want to talk?”

Draco sighed deeply. “Fine. Talk. Tell me how you worked out how much you love me and that you want to marry me and how sorry you are you ruined the surprise and all that other tripe. Then let’s get to fucking.”

Harry rolled them so Draco was beneath him. “Well if you already know it all, I suppose there’s no need for further conversation.” He summoned the lube so the party-for-two could start.


End file.
